Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

Unlike Deputy Power I am a voluntary stray. Deputy Power has been compulsorily strayed. This Government is attempting to pass a social welfare Bill to take money from the blind and those providing care in the home for sick members of their family rather than having them in institutional care at greater cost to the State. The Bill also takes money from widows and from people paid less than €600 per week, while top bankers on €500,000 a year are not touched. The Government is doing this in a way that treats the Dáil with contempt. It also did so yesterday.

It is questionable whether the social welfare Bill is properly before the House. Yesterday, my colleague Deputy Shortall opposed the order proposed by the Minister for Social and Family Affairs. The Ceann Comhairle called a vote on it, the Minister for Social and Family Affairs overruled the Ceann Comhairle and no vote was taken on it. This raises the question of whether the social welfare Bill is properly before the House. Politically, the Government is attempting to get Deputies Healy-Rae, Lowry, Grealish, McDaid and the two strays from Sligo to vote to cut money from people who are blind, those providing care, the widowed and those in bad circumstances before Members get back to their constituents. This is a political order to get the social welfare Bill through before Deputies are exposed to constituents discussing it with them. The Labour Party will not agree to this order. This is the height of arrogance and it adds insult to the injury inflicted on these people last Wednesday.

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